Earth or Mars why is our goverment wasting our money on mars?

Question

How many people agree that our goverment is wasting billions in outter space..why are they looking to mars to start life over?

I am sure more than 98% of the world is not leaving this earth to go live on mars or any other planet, all these billions could be used on our own planet...lets not mention the enviormental effects that rockets put out.

Answer 1

What is the greater waste of resources.  A 2009 Nasa Budget of $17.9 Billion or the $560 Billion we have spent in Iraq?  What about the 2007 Defense Budget of $439 Billion, or the $16.5 Billion we spent on farm subsidies in 2006.

Or the $68.6 Billion we spent in 2007 on Education.

In all honesty Nasa's budget is a drop in the pail compared to what we are spending on other programs.

Answer 2

Personally, I am excited about space travel and would fund it voluntarily if given the choice.  I'm as opposed to coercive funding of the space program as I am of anything.  You shouldn't have to pay for a program that I happen to like any more than I shouldn't have to pay for any programs that you might like.

Aside from the ethical consideration, I oppose such government expenditures because they are wasteful.  If the funds were administered privately, the activities would be subject to profit requirements.  Projects that squandered resources would be unprofitable and uneconomical.  Firms that engaged upon such projects would run out of capital and so not be able to continue to waste resources.

Answer 3

We have strip mined our own planet and are looking elsewhere for resources - it is one solution since as a society we refuse to reduce our waste and recycle our resources.

Answer 4

You're right they're wasting a lot of money on nonsense..who says they're gonna find what they're look n 4 if they knew what was important the world would be a better place..

paying People n entertainment the big bucks 4 what n they raising rent n a lot of jobs not paying money...so stupid

Answer 5

Excellent, I have thought that for a long time.  Just how is it going to affect my life is water was ever on mars, as though I give a dam*.  Take that wasted money and rebuild our own country rather than squander it on that nonsense.  But, I guess that makes about as much sense as give millions of dollars in grants to study the effects of cow farts on the environment.  Priorities are all out of line.

Answer 6

Well, if you think Obama is pathetic, you probably don't approve of those billions being used here on earth, and also don't realize that Bush was the one who promised you Mars exploration and a trip back to the moon.  There are good reasons to spend the small amount of money we do to learn a little about our stellar neighborhood, but this is always lost to the 'what's in it for me' crowd.  If the republicans cut the space program (not likely--the contracts go to their biggest supporters), they would just find another way to give the money to the richest companies in the country.  Your taxes wouldn't go down, and the money wouldn't go toward fighting poverty, building schools, student loans, improving medicine, or anything that would help regular people.  

Space exploration is a pretty tiny chunk of the budget, and what has been spent already has brought great improvements to everyday life.

Answer 7

At the rate we are consuming resources on earth, future generations may depend on our ability to mine the mineral resources on Mars.

Getting there first, is the biggest obstacle.

Believe me, the major corporations are behind the space programs more than individuals.

Answer 8

this reason. It was found that carbon dioxide was found on mars . IF they put trees there, then oxygen will be formed, so what they are doing is tracking the details to see if life was ever on mars and if there are ingredients on mars to support our life.

Basically, we want to inhabit mars. in the future, maybe 2 generations from now, we may live on mars or Venus if we get lucky,